Four killed, 20 injured in suicide attack in NW Pak

At least four persons were killed and over 20 others injured in a suspected suicide attack on the police lines at Timergarah in the militancy-hit Malakand region of northwest Pakistan on Friday.

The attack occurred near a mosque close to the police lines at Timergarah in Dir district, Deputy Inspector General of Police Idris Khan told reporters.

He said four persons were killed in the explosion.

Geo News channel reported the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber while Friday prayers were underway at the mosque. Media reports said over 20 people were injured and four cars were destroyed.

Security forces cordoned off the area as ambulances took the dead and injured to nearby hospitals. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Militants have targeted mosques during Friday prayers on several occasions in the recent past. Forty people, including a serving army major general, were killed in a suicide attack on a mosque frequented by military personnel in Rawalpindi on December 4.

Hundreds of people have died across Pakistan in a recent wave of bombings and suicide attacks blamed on the local Taliban.

Security forces conducted a major operation in Malakand region earlier this year after the Taliban fighters took advantage of a peace deal in the Swat valley to extend their influence to Dir and Buner districts.